"It felt like my skin was coming off…" the words of a man who had acid thrown in his face. He experienced an intense burning on his skin and thought it would leave him blinded.
But he was lucky.
Prompt medical treatment saved his sight and he’s now making a full recovery. But he still doesn’t know why he was targeted – and it’s left him feeling uneasy when he’s out on his own.
Throwing acid at someone is – thankfully – a relatively rare crime in the UK. The figures are small, but over the past seven years, the trend has been upwards.
Last year there were 97 incidents in England where corrosive substances were thrown at someone that resulted in the need for hospital treatment.
Acid attack victim's story
The 5 live Investigates team has been looking at those statistics to see if they tell us anything more about this horrific crime.
The commonly-held belief is that most acid attacks victims are women – such as Katie Piper who was attacked and had sulphuric acid thrown at her. Other cases have been linked to so-called ‘honour crimes.’ But our analysis shows that the majority of victims are in fact men.
Of the 97 cases recorded last year, almost two-thirds of the victims were male. In London, the Metropolitan Police said it had investigated 66 attacks, 50 of them on men.
We’ve spoken to a doctor who treats acid attack victims. He believes it’s a new dimension to gang violence. The programme has been hearing reports that acid attacks were used in gang clashes at the Notting Hill Carnival in London.
Also on 5 live Investigates this week – the continuing controversy surrounding the Government’s work capability assessments.
The assessments were introduced as part of the Government’s welfare reforms, and to ensure that people who receive Employment Support Allowance – or incapacity benefit – genuinely aren’t able to work. But our investigation shows that GPs are being given just five days to provide details on a claimant’s medical background. The doctors say the time scale is “woefully insufficient”, and without recourse to a claimant’s medical background, assessors are declaring some people fit for work when the medical opinion is they shouldn’t be working.
